Comment Today at 9 AM CT (10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, and 15:00 GMT), Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. Interest rates around the world are down. World stock markets, excluding the U.S., are down. Commodities are plunging. Essentially everything is down… Continue reading Diverging Markets, Shades of 2007?
The Wall Street Journal – Swiss Franc Rockets After SNB Scraps Currency Cap The Swiss franc rocketed beyond parity with the euro on Thursday after Switzerland’s central bank stunned markets by scrapping its long-standing cap on the strength of the currency. The franc surged more than 20%, ending more than three years of calm in… Continue reading The Swiss Franc Lifts Its Cap
The Wall Street Journal – Falling Oil Prices to Soften Non-OPEC Oil Supply Growth Slumping oil prices are expected to dampen the increase in non-OPEC oil supply this year, even as demand is expected to improve marginally, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Thursday. In its monthly oil market report, the producer group… Continue reading OPEC Sees Slower Oil Production In U.S.
The Wall Street Journal – Fed’s Beige Book: Continued Growth, but Some Slowing in Oil-Producing Areas The beige book, a survey of anecdotal information about the economy, was released ahead of the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 policy meeting in Washington. The central bank’s top officials are debating the timing and pace of interest-rate increases that are… Continue reading The Beige Book
CNBC – EXCLUSIVE-Canada insists on oil train tanker phase-out ahead of U.S. Canada is committed to taking outmoded tank cars off the rails years earlier than U.S. officials envision, sources familiar with negotiations say, leaving the trading partners at an impasse as they try to harmonize oil train safety measures. In the wake of the… Continue reading Crude By Rail
The Wall Street Journal – Retail Sales Don’t Take Growth Off the Shelf Retail sales softened markedly last month, but that might have as much to do with the prices consumers paid as how much stuff they bought. The Commerce Department on Wednesday reported that retail sales in December fell a seasonally adjusted 0.9% from… Continue reading An Alternate Take On Yesterday’s Retail Sales Number
Bloomberg.com – 158 Years Signal U.S. Expansion to Last Until Yellen Stops It The next U.S. recession will be stamped “Made in America” and it’s not looking imminent. There have been 33 recessions in the U.S. since the late 1850s and all but five followed increases in short-term interest rates. After the Federal Reserve was… Continue reading A Historical Look At The Economy’s Response To Rate Hikes
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Jon Hilsenrath: FALLING 10-YEAR YIELD RAISES DOUBT ABOUT FED 2% GOAL Federal Reserve officials have said they would raise short-term interest rates in the months ahead even if inflation remains below their 2% objective, as long as they are “reasonably confident” it is heading toward that goal. You can… Continue reading Rosengren Voices Concern Over Falling Rates & Inflation
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Falling Rates Spur Revival in Market for Mortgages The moribund mortgage market suddenly sprang back to life last week after a drop in interest rates to levels not seen in almost two years sent borrowers rushing to lock in cheaper loans. Mortgage applications rose… Continue reading Mortgage Refinancing Spikes Up
<Click on chart for larger image> Venture Beat – Bitcoin crashes below $200 Bitcoin is falling and falling fast. Very early this morning the coin’s price fell below the $200 mark to $179.13, before somewhat rebounding. As of this writing the coin is worth $194.29. Yesterday, the value of Bitcoin started descending quickly. Its value… Continue reading Bitcoin Tumbles
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Declining Population Could Reduce Global Economic Growth By 40% Declining population growth that shrinks the pool of available labor over the next 50 years will reduce by 40% the rate of growth in global economic output for the world’s 20 largest economies compared to the past 50 years, according… Continue reading Some Interesting Predictions For Global Growth Over The Next 50 Years
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – The ECB’s (Losing) Battle Against Deflation The European Central Bank is fighting a losing battle against deflation. That’s because while some of the region’s deflationary pressures are domestically produced, others are being driven by global economic forces against which the ECB has only limited tools. The domestic deflationary forces are fairly… Continue reading Europe’s Deflationary Problems